5*s
Louise is a single mother not looking for fun when she meets an attractive stranger in a bar on a rare night out. It all looks promising and she is left with the memory of a kiss from the handsome stranger. Sadly for Louise, she also finds out that he’s married, and will be starting work as the new psychologist starting at the private practice she works for. As a modern woman she grabs whatever she can from the encounter and uses it to entertain her friend over a bottle or two of wine and a big belly laugh at her expense.
The reality of course was different to the tale she spun her friend. Louise had been devastated to see David walk into the office where she works as a PA, not least because his stunning wife Adele was on his arm, she did the only thing she could think of, she hid in the toilets until his welcome tour was over.
David and Adele have just moved to the area and Louise’s luck just isn’t playing ball. Would you believe it? Just a few days later she literally bumps into Adele on the street near her son’s school and before she knows it she is having coffee with this slightly timid but lovely woman. What Adele tells, or in part leaves unsaid, her makes her view her new boss in a different light.
Now this is the most highly hyped psychological thriller of the year – it comes complete with the killer hashtag #WTFthatending so I was expecting something brilliant, and yes, I got it. I was determined not to be drawn in by the hashtag, but despite that, this really wasn’t what I was expecting at all, and if I’m honest, if I’d had an inkling beforehand, I might very well have dismissed this book. But, and here’s the thing, sometimes brilliant writing can and does overcome what I think I do or don’t like in books and while I was in the grip of the action, Sarah Pinborough’s writing had me completely convinced. She did a marvelous job of creating all three main protagonists, not a hint of a cardboard cutout filled in with clichés but people who appear to be a mixture of good, and the not so good, and that went a hell of a long way into making me care, in part about all three although in the best traditions of the genre, my sympathies altered depending on the latest piece of information – and believe me, there are lots of pieces to put together before you get to that ending! Despite the hashtag there is a lot of enjoyment to be had throughout the story, this isn’t a book that stands on its ending alone, in many ways trying to grapple with where the truth may possibly lie during the main part of the book was equally, if not more satisfying.
I can see this being a massive hit, perfect for diving into on winter’s nights and equally likely to be seen around the pool while on holiday. Yes, you may well finish the book like I did and on reflection wonder how the book had you quite so hooked, but the truth is, it did and I was! I can assure you that I won’t forget David, Louise or Adele in a hurry and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
First Published UK: 26 January 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
No of Pages: 384
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US